In February, we announced the next generation of Google Ad Manager, DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) Small Business. Over the next few days we’ll be completing our upgrade of all Google Ad Manager accounts to DFP Small Business. If you don’t currently have an account you can get one now by visiting the DFP Small Business website.

DFP Small Business taps the combined insight and innovation of Google and DoubleClick to bring you many of the features you've been asking for such as simplified ad trafficking workflows, additional reporting options, and an open Web Services API. In the coming weeks and months we’ll be working to unveil even more exciting innovations designed to help you work more efficiently and maximize revenue from your website.

We’ve also released a suite of online resources to help you get the most out of DFP Small Business. We suggest bookmarking these sites for easy reference:

Help Center - Access a comprehensive collection of searchable FAQs, guides, and more.

Help Forum - Share any questions, comments, and best practices in an online community of DFP users.

Training Videos - Watch easy-to-follow training videos that walk you through DFP features and tips.

Twitter - Follow us on Twitter to get daily, bite-sized updates from the DFP team.

To keep you updated regarding our latest news, insights and solutions for publishers of all sizes, we've also launched the DoubleClick Publisher Blog. This new blog will replace the Google Ad Manager blog which will be retired in the upcoming weeks.

Thanks again for your support through the development of Google Ad Manager and its transition into DFP Small Business. We're excited to continue working with you, and hope you enjoy the new and improved product.

Since Google's acquisition of DoubleClick in March of 2008, we've been focused on combining the knowledge and resources of our companies, as well as your feedback, to improve ad serving for publishers of all sizes. Over the past year, you may have noticed some early fruits of this labor in Google Ad Manager, including the new Inventory and Admin tabs. Today, we announced the launch of our next generation publisher ad serving platform, the new DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP) from Google, which further leverages the combined strengths of Google and DoubleClick.

As part of this roll-out, we're also excited to announce that in the weeks to come all Google Ad Manager publisher accounts will automatically be upgraded to DFP Small Business. This is the next generation of Google Ad Manager, bringing many requested features such as a new web services API, an improved user interface, and new reporting capabilities. We will be upgrading all Google Ad Manager accounts to DFP Small Business automatically. Ad Manager users will see the new DFP Small Business name and logo within the product and related resources upon completion of the upgrade. Usernames, passwords, ad delivery data and account data will be unaffected by this change. New customers signing up for Google Ad Manager today will automatically be upgraded on the same schedule as current Ad Manager publishers.

In order further educate our publishers about this announcement, we've prepared the following set of online materials:

Get a quick overview of the upcoming trafficking improvements and watch videos demonstrating the changes.

Attend our DFP Small Business web seminars to get an overview of these changes.

As a DFP Small Business publisher, you'll also benefit immediately by gaining a seamless upgrade path to the premium version of DFP, which offers an advanced feature set, greater levels of customization and enhanced partnership and consulting services. All of our publishers will benefit from becoming part of the larger DoubleClick platform ecosystem, which remains at the center of Google's commitment to continued ad serving innovation and investment. To learn more about our DFP premium solution, please visit the following link.

We hope you find that these improvements will enable you to get your work done faster, grow your business, and help you maximize the value of each ad impression.

Our engineers will be performing routine site maintenance this Saturday from 10am to 2pm PDT. Although you won't be able to access your AdSense or Ad Manager accounts during this time, your clicks, impressions, and earnings will continue to be recorded as normal. In addition, ad serving and ad targeting on your pages won't be affected.

For our international readers, here's the maintenance start time converted for a few cities around the world:

We know that as a publisher it can be challenging to get noticed by advertisers - let alone finding and contacting all of the potential advertisers who may be trying to reach your site's demographic or content areas.

Today we're excited to announce a new feature designed to better connect Google Ad Manager publishers directly with advertisers. Ad Manager publishers can now list specific ad placements, in addition to site profile information, directly within Google's Ad Planner media planning tool. Advertisers can then contact you directly to purchase these advertising opportunities.

If you're not familiar with Google Ad Planner, this solution helps connect buyers and sellers of online advertising by enabling advertisers and agencies to find websites that cater to their target audiences in order to easily build their media plans. As a site owner, you can use the Google Ad Planner Publisher Center to market your site to advertisers, help them search for you, and connect with these potential buyers. By claiming your site listing in Ad Planner, you can ensure the most accurate information about your site is shared.

Last week, on the Inside AdSense blog, we also announced some exciting improvements to the Google Ad Planner Publisher Center which should make Ad Planner an even more valuable tool for connecting you with potential advertisers.

To get started with Google Ad Planner, we encourage you to visit the Google Ad Planner Publisher Center and claim the sites you own. Then in Google Ad Manager, expose your Ad Manager placements to advertisers by following these instructions.

Our engineers will be performing routine site maintenance this Saturday from 10am to 2pm PDT. Although you won't be able to access your AdSense or Ad Manager accounts during this time, your clicks, impressions, and earnings will continue to be recorded as normal. In addition, ad serving and ad targeting on your pages won't be affected.

For our international readers, here's the maintenance start time converted for a few cities around the world:

The Content Revenue Strategies (CRS) conference and expo is coming to New York City next week on November 5th. Formerly known as ADSPACE, CRS will take place alongside ad:tech New York and offer sessions tailored to small and medium sized publishers. You'll have the opportunity to meet other AdSense and Ad Manager publishers during the event, and a variety of speakers will share their experiences and techniques to help you optimize your AdSense and Ad Manager accounts.

You'll also hear from a number of Google representatives at CRS, and we especially hope you'll join us for the two keynote sessions. During the first keynote, Group Product Manager Jonathan Bellack will share insights into ourteam's product vision and discuss how recent product enhancements can help you grow your business. The second keynote will feature the return of the AdSense Publisher Forum, an open Q&A session where attendees can ask questions directly to a panel of AdSense team members. The panel will be moderated by Jennifer Slegg of JenSense.com, and feature Head of Publisher Solutions Gavin Bishop, Online Sales and Operations Manager Christian Ashlock, and Product Manager Tim Evans.

Lastly, a team of AdSense optimizers will be present at the conference to meet you and answer your questions. Stop by our Optimization Lounge to receive customized performance tips for your websites, and share your product feedback and suggestions.

Register today using our Google promotional code CRSGoogle, and you'll receive $100 off the price of a conference pass. Your CRS conference pass will grant you access to all of the sessions and keynotes, a CRS attendee lunch, and the ad:tech New York Expo Hall. For more information about the conference, including the full schedule and confirmed speakers, visit the official CRS website.

On Tuesday, November 3rd, the Google Ad Manager team will host an online seminar for publishers looking to get started with Google Ad Manager. We welcome you to join us for an hour, starting at 1pm PST, to learn proper campaign and inventory management, as well as Ad Manager tips and best practices. Please be sure to sign up via our Help Center if you're planning to attend.